Nurse-led social prescribing… Does it work?

Social prescribing appears regularly across all areas of health care and is a hot political topic.

Although social prescribing is appropriate across all areas of health, the Royal College of General Practitioners is trying hard to fly the social prescribing flag in general practice. This is due to many reasons including recruitment and retention; closure of community hospitals, increasingly ageing population and reduced mental health services. However, as social prescribing aims to divert patients to appropriate services rather than book a GP appointment and given the amount of GP appointments used for social problems it could be argued that social prescribing has already failed. Although, many practices which have championed social prescribing demonstrate significant patient benefits such as improvements in weight and glucose control, and improved mental health. This event will offer an opportunity to learn more about social prescribing and share both positive and negative experiences.